Greig Laidlaw: Desperate for win against Italy

Scrum-half Greig Laidlaw insists it is time Scotland repaid their long-suffering fans with a Six Nations win.

The Dark Blues have prevailed just twice in their last 18 Championship matches and tasted success only once at home in the tournament since 2009.

The team take on an Italy side at Murrayfield this Saturday who will travel to Edinburgh high on confidence after shooting down France 23-18 in Rome last Sunday.

Scotland, on the other hand, put on a display against England at Twickenham that contrasted a meek breakdown performance with an encouraging running game that offered up a pair of tries in the 38-18 defeat.

Now Laidlaw insists it is time the side built on those positives and give something back to their loyal home support.

He said: "Winning down in London was our number one priority, I must say. We went down there for nothing else.

"But now the priority is to win this weekend against Italy and build our Six Nations campaign from there. We are delighted to be playing at home.

"The Scottish fans at Murrayfield have been outstanding. It's about time we repaid some of their faith.

"We have three home games in a row this year and if we can get a result against Italy, there is a chance we can build up some momentum. That's exactly what we are looking at.

"Italy had a good result in Rome so we can look too far past the game this weekend.

"But three home games one after the other is a good run and hopefully will work in our favour."

Winning against the Azzurri, though, will be a harder prospect than ever.

Their maturing backs and dominant pack were impressive as they battled past the French last weekend and will still fondly recall dismissing the Scots 13-6 in the Olympic Stadium 12 months ago.

Laidlaw said: "Their result doesn't surprise me. They have got a good pack and are starting to build momentum. But it is like all the teams. I think it is going to be close this year - a close competition.

"If we can do our job right and do our work, we should come out on the right side of the result.

"But Italy are certainly no pushovers any more. They are a proper part of this competition. They have a good, strong pack and are starting to get some decent backs together. We need to be ready for them."